Method of fabricating panty hose

ABSTRACT

DISCLOSED ARE PANTY HOSE AND A METHOD OF FABRICATING SAID PANTY HOSE WHEREIN TWO PANTY HOSE LEG BLANKS ARE SEPARATELY KNIT. THE TUBULAR BLANKS ARE THEN JOINED TO FORM THE PANTY PORTION BY UNITERRUPTED SLITTING AND SIMULTANEOUS SEWING OF THE SLITTED FABRIC ALONG A PREDETERMINED LINE

NOV. 23, 1971 s, E, KRUEGER METHOD OF FABRICATING PANTY HOSEv Filed Aug. 22. 1969 T T r INVENTOR STANLEY E. KRIUEGER BY /MJ7ATM? ATTORNEYS FIG. 2

United States Patent O 3,621,493 METHOD OF FABRICATING PANTY HOSE Stanley E. Krueger, High Point, N.C., assignor to Indian Head, Inc., New York, N.`Y. Filed Aug. 22, 1969, Ser. No. 852,164 Int. Cl. A41b 9/04, 1.1/00

U.S. Cl. 2-224 R 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to panty hose garments and methods of panty hose fabrication. More particularly, the invention is related to a new method of forming the panty portion of panty hose and the improved garment resulting therefrom.

Among current panty hose fabrication techniques, there exists the method of slitting the inner welts of tubular noseam leg blanks, matching the selected blanks and then aligning the slit portions, and finally sewing the slit portions together to form a unitary `garment with a continuous crotch seam.

The difliculty with this method is that several handling steps are required, resulting in higher costs, damage to the garment, and greater risk of fabrication error. The aforementioned technique requires two slitting operations, one for each leg. The slit portions, must then be selectively matched. The real diliiculty then arises in superimposing the slit selvages of the two blanks preparatory to sewing. Any significant difference in length will, of course, be detrimental. Similarly, any misalignment of the slits will also cause a poorer garment. This refers to either lateral or angular misalignment.

The method herein disclosed has been used to overcome the aforementioned uneconomical and tedious approach. This new method involves superimposing the leg blanks atop one another, and then slitting the inner welts of the blanks and at the same time sewing both slit selvages of the blanks in a single operation.

An object of this invention, therefore, is to reduce the number of handling steps in a novel method of fabricating panty hose.

Another object of this invention is to provide a more error-free method of fabricating panty hose requiring a minimum of quality control.

A third object of this invention is to provide improved panty hose garments produced by this improved method.

The disclosed method of fabricating panty hose com prises separately knitting two tubular leg blanks with elongated welts. A welt portion of one of said blanks is then superimposed on the corresponding welt portion of the other blank. This is followed by the step of simultaneously slitting the superimposed Welt portions and uninterruptedly sewing both selvages of the slit welts until a completed crotch seam is formed.

For a better understanding of the present invention together with other and further objects thereof, reference is made to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, and the scope of the invention will be pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a portion of the apparatus for performing the slitting and sewing operation and a similar view of the top of the legr blanks properly oriented for insertion into the apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a side perspective view of the partially completed crotch seam showing simultaneously sewed portions.

FIG. 3 is a perspective elevation view of the completed panty hose constructed according to the present invention.

Referring first to FIG. l, shown is a portion of a sewing machine 22 adapted to perform the required fabrication steps of this invention. The machine includes two threaded sewing elements or needles 12 and 13 between which is disposed a reciprocating cutting means or blade 11. The blade 11 is guided by a pair of horizontal presser feet 14- of the movable pressing member 10. Guides for the thread are also provided by semicircular grooves in the horizontal presser feet 14. FIG. l illustrates that cutting means 11 is located slightly forward of the two threaded needles.

Two seamless leg blanks 15 and 16 are selected, generally on the basis of close color match. The blanks may or may not have foot portions which require that these portions be aligned. '.If the blanks possess foot portions, the blanks are carefully oriented so that the foot portions correspond appropriately. The leg blank welt portions are then tangentially superimposed as shown in FIG. 1. The superimposed portion of the leg blanks is then slipped under the presser feet 14 and the pressing member 11 is lowered to grip the two superimposed layers.

On actuation of the sewing machine by the operator, the fabric is drawn toward the cutting means 11 and threaded needles 12 by appropriate translation means in the machine. Note that the non-tangential portion of the welts are to be folded back so as not to be engaged by the active machine elements.

As the superimposed welt portion is drawn into the machine, cutting means 11 slits the fabric. The slit fabric creates two selvages to be called a rear and a front selvage. The two sewing needles 12 and 13, simultaneous with the cutting of the fabric, sew the two selvages, one needle sewing the front selvage and the second needle sewing the rear selvage.

Referring to FIG. 2, a pair of partially sewn leg blanks 15 and 16 are shown which illustrate the result of the described method. The partially completed garment has sewn front 19 and rear 17 selvages which extend as far as the slitted fabric, having been produced by a single simultaneous slitting and dual sewing operation.

Once having begun the slitting and sewing operation, the simultaneous steps are continued uninterruptedly along a predetermined sewing line until the required crotch depth is achieved. The result is a crotch seam 20 as indicated in FIG. 3 sewn to the precise crotch depth 21 desired, having been achieved by a single uninterrupted simultaneous cutting and sewing operation. Normally the crotch depth 21 does not exceed the welt area so that the stronger welt material is present throughout the panty portion.

To insure a tighter, longer lasting crotch seam, the garment may be manually turned when seam 20 approaches its lowest point 21 so as to criss-cross the seam. The machine may then be reversed to further lock this seam, producing a strong and reliable crotch seam.

The cutting and sewing apparatus of FIG. 1 may be achieved through the use of two Union Special overedger sewing machines No. 39,500, arranged in such a manner that their sewing elements are aligned parallel and adjacent. Only one cutting knife is necessary as shown in FIG. l, but it should be understood that two cutting knives can be used without hindering the operation or deviating from the present invention. The two sewing elements are singularly controlled and function as one unit during the sewing operation.

The advantage of one uninterrupted slitting and sewing operation by simultaneously sewing both sides of the cut fabric is thus achieved, resulting in an appreciable reduction in sewing cost plus a reduction of Wasted garments resulting from faulty sewing.

In addition, the panty hose itself produced by this method has an improved crotch seam which is stronger, neater and subjectively more attractive than those produced by present fabrication techniques.

It will be apparent to persons skilled in the art that the cutting edge of blade 11 could be positioned in line with or slightly behind the needles 12 and 13 without adversely affecting the operation. Likewise the relative position of the needles 12 and 13 could be varied to a certain degree, and the criss-cross juncture at the base of the crotch seam could be performed by relative movement of the needles, rather than by manipulation of the garment as described above.

Accordingly, while there have been described what are considered to be the preferred embodiments of this invention, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and modications may be made therein without departing from the invention and it is, therefore, aimed to cover all such changes and modications as tall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

4 What is claimed is: 1. A method of fabricating seamless panty hose having a single U-shaped seam comprising:

separately knitting two seamless tubular leg blanks having foot portions, leg portions and elongated welt top portions;

orienting said blanks according to said foot portions and tangentially superimposing one welt portion of said oriented blanks on the corresponding welt portion of the other blank;

and uninterruptedly longitudinally slitting the oriented superimposed welt portions to a predetermined depth and simultaneously with said slitting sewing the superimposed edges of both sides of the slit welt portions until the completed crotch seam is formed.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS H. HAMPTON HUNTER, Primary Examiner 

